What the Internet Will Look Like After the Zombie Apocalypse

February 27, 2014

...k at a node. The routers can even be powered by small 12 volt batteries or solar panels. To be clear, this is a wireless network that is independent of the internet (though you could route the internet over it). Such a network could be used in an emergency such as an earthquake or weather event to send digital messages. It’s also the means by which I could continue to send out cute cat photos even if things go full-on Cormac McCarthy You could use...

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The Energy Environment Simulator

Mr. Homegrown

January 22, 2014

Water and Power

15 Comments

...extreme, your own personal zombie apocalypse. One of the energy sources is labeled “new technology.” This could either be solar or that UFO doughnut from the Thrive movie. The only info we have on it is that it was manufactured by Tenntronics, a defunct company that was in business from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. It came with a handsome storage cabinet that also serves as a pedestal. Photo: Niklas Vollmer I’m guessing that the Energy-E...

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Learn to Build with Adobe

Mr. Homegrown

December 27, 2013

Appropriate Technology, Events

2 Comments

...mmunity College’s Adobe Construction Department: Class: ADOB 113 – Passive Solar Adobe Design Format: 8-Week Online Class Dates: January 21 to March 15, 2014 Credits: 2 Course #: 31660 Class: ADOB 111 – Adobe Construction Basics Format: 8-Week Online Class Dates: March 24 to May 17, 2014 Credits: 3 Course #: 31268 Class: ADOB 112 – Adobe Wall Construction Format: Web-Blended (4 Weeks Online + 2 Days of Intensive Live Instruction) Dates: April 19 t...

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Our New Straw Bale Garden–Part I

Mr. Homegrown

April 23, 2013

Gardening, Straw Bale Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

26 Comments

Straw bales–ready to prepare. Pot in the center will be a solar powered fountain. We’re going to experiment with a straw bale vegetable garden in our backyard, inspired by Michael Tortorello’s article in the New York Times. The plan is to grow in the bales and harvest the resulting compost for use in permanent raised beds (that have yet to be built). We’ll keep growing in bales until we have enough compost for the beds. The problems presented by...

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Our Keyhole Vegetable Bed: What Worked and What Didn’t Work

Mr. Homegrown

April 17, 2013

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

10 Comments

...to our chickens and the compost pile. Ignore the large pot–that’s a future solar powered fountain that will be incorporated in a new vegetable garden we’re working on. Here’s what the keyhole bed looked like just after I installed it back in October. Note the compost repository in the center of the bed. I used straw wattle (available where professional irrigation supplies are sold) to form the sides of the keyhole. A month later in November a few...

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